摘要：Background: The ability to find and retrieve information efficiently is an important skill for undergraduate nursing students. Yet a number of studies reveal that nursing students are not confident in their library searching skills and encounter barriers to retrieving relevant information for assignments. Objectives: This grounded theory study examined strategies used by students to locate information for class assignments and identified barriers to their success. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit eleven students, who were asked to record their searching processes while completing a class assignment, and semi-structured, open-ended, audiotaped interviews took place to discuss the students' journals and solicit additional data. Methods of information seeking, strategies used to find information, and barriers to searching were identified. Results: Students' main concern was frustration caused by the challenge of choosing appropriate words or phrases to query databases. The central theme that united all categories and explained most of the variation among the data was “discovering vocabulary.” Conclusions: Teaching strategies to identify possible words and phrases to use when querying information sources should be emphasized more in the information literacy training of undergraduate nursing students. Highlights Although prior studies revealed students' frustration while searching the literature, this study revealed that frustration was primarily caused by the challenge of choosing of words or phrases to query information resources. Implications More time is required to teach nursing students searching skills, especially the primary database in nursing, CINAHL. Health sciences librarians and nursing faculty could assist students in developing strategies to identify alternate vocabulary when querying information resources. It is essential that nurses attain solid information literacy skills before they graduate and move into practice [ 1 ]. Ideally, these skills are introduced in the nursing education curricula and are expected to be retained throughout one's career in clinical and/or academic practice. Although information-seeking skills have been identified as critical, a number of studies reveal that nursing students, as well as practicing nurses, are not confident in their library-searching skills [ 2 , 3 ]. Research has looked at the types of resources that nursing students access [ 4 , 5 ], but little has been reported in the literature about how nursing students go about completing their searches, what difficulties they encounter, and how successful they are in locating information. Research is needed to closely examine the searching process demonstrated by nursing students while they complete assignments and to attempt to identify the points in the process where they encounter difficulties or barriers. Identifying these barriers would provide opportunities for curriculum improvement for both nursing faculty and health sciences librarians tasked with teaching nurses information literacy skills. This study examines strategies used by students to locate resources and information for a class assignment. It looked for patterns in information-seeking behavior, barriers to accessing information, and strategies used by students when unsuccessful in their searches.
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